Saturday, December 10, 2011

Away in a Manger

For the past several Decembers I've traveled with a group of friends to Christmas markets in one charming German city after another.

The market stalls are loaded with vendors selling amazing food, jewelry, scarves and, my personal favorite, beautiful handcrafted Christmas decorations. There are so many choices it's hard to know what to buy. Occasionally our decisions were based on luggage space which is sad but true.

I have brightly colored nutcrackers, delicate glass ornaments, a small hand carved nativity and, one of my very favorite souvenirs, a German pyramid. The pyramids come in several different sizes but mine is four-tiered with six candles around the bottom tier. When you light the candles the paddles on top of the pyramid slowly turn.

I chose this pyramid because it held all the pieces of the nativity story. In the center of the bottom tier you'll find Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus in the manger. All around this scene are the intricately carved camels and kings.

The two middle tiers feature shepherds and their teeny tiny sheep...

And on top of it all is where you'll see the sweet choir of angels...

I can almost hear them singing.

"And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them." Luke 2:7 (NIV)

This post is linked to the December photo challenge hosted by Susan...today's prompt-Away in a Manger.

Love your pyramid. I have one of those too but didn't know that's what it was called and mine didn't come from Germany. I haven't gotten it out in years. I might just have to go digging for it after seeing yours now. :)

I have one almost exactly like yours! I'll have to try to remember to take a picture for you to see. Of course, I didn't acquire mine while having a blast with friends! My mother gives me a nativity every single year and this one was it about 3 years ago.

I used to have one JUST LIKE THAT, but it broke. :( I replaced it with one from Lillian Vernon, but it's a really cheap one and not nearly as pretty as my original, which my MIL brought me from Germany.